Category Archives: Science

CAVE PAINTERS PAINTING WHAT THEY SAW.

CAVE PAINTERS PAINTING WHAT THEY SAW. This article in Popular Archaeology describes a new DNA study of cave paintings. It begins: “Long thought by many as possible abstract or symbolic expressions as opposed to representations of real animals, the famous … Continue reading

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WERE CAVE PAINTINGS ABSTRACT ART?

WERE CAVE PAINTINGS ABSTRACT ART? Years ago we spent an afternoon at Lascaux II, the reconstruction of the the Lascaux cave paintings that tourists are allowed to visit. The guide who gave a lecture on the paintings attached great importance … Continue reading

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RESEARCH ON SYNESTHESIA.

RESEARCH ON SYNESTHESIA. This wikipedia article defines synesthesia as “a condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.” A favorite college professor of mine had a … Continue reading

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BACON AND SPLINTERS.

BACON AND SPLINTERS. Splinters in our house were dealt with by the careful use of a sterilized needle. The report on nosebleeds brought back the memory that that were a couple times when the needle could not extract my splinter. … Continue reading

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BACON—MORE THINGS IT CAN DO.

BACON—MORE THINGS IT CAN DO. Instapundit has a recurring caption for reports about new findings on bacon: “BACON—WHAT CAN’T IT DO?” The most recent report was from the Guardian, about this medical study. Researchers have discovered that “nasal packing with … Continue reading

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ONE DROP EVERY EIGHT OR NINE YEARS.

ONE DROP EVERY EIGHT OR NINE YEARS. There are some kinds of crude oil in California that are extremely viscous. So viscous that at room temperature you can turn a glass container of the crude upside down and no drop … Continue reading

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DECISION TREES FOR PATIENTS.

DECISION TREES FOR PATIENTS. Laura Landro’s review describes how Doctors Groopman and Hartzband “examine a formula for rational decision-making often used in economics: Measure the probability of an outcome and place a numerical value on the outcome itself.” The probable … Continue reading

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DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE.

DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. Jerome Groopman (an oncologist) and Pamela Hartzband (an endocrinologist) have written YOUR MEDICAL MIND, which analyzes the role of patient choices in medical decisions. (I have relied on this review by Daniel J. … Continue reading

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VICTORIAN HARPOONS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WHALES.

VICTORIAN HARPOONS IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WHALES. Nick and his friend Jane went to the whaling museum in New Bedford recently and were struck by the fact that whales are being found today that are carrying harpoons that were fired in … Continue reading

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A PHYSICIST HAS EXPLAINED AN OBSERVATION BY LEONARDO.

A PHYSICIST HAS EXPLAINED AN OBSERVATION BY LEONARDO. Instapundit called attention to a recent paper by a physicist, Christophe Eloy, which provides a mathematical explanation for an observation made by Leonardo da Vinci which has never been satisfactorily explained. This … Continue reading

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